MEET INFORMATION

2024 Summer Meet Dates:

June 1 - 2: Cowichan
June 15 - 16: Oak Bay
June 22 - 23: Courtenay
June 28 - 30: Nanaimo
July 6 - 7: Campbell River
July 13 - 14: Salt Spring Island
July 20 - 21: Saanich Peninsula
Aug 2 - 4: Regionals @ TBA
Aug 12 - 18: Provincials @ UBC, Vancouver

2023 Meet Packages and Results: Click Here

Swim meets are an exciting part of our Summer Competitive season.

All Swimmers are encouraged to participate as much as possible.

Swimmer Expectations:

Swimmers are representing the Piranhas Swim Club at all times, and must conduct themselves in a way that respects themselves, their team mates, coaches, and other clubs.

Improper language, drinking, and drugs are not permitted at any time.

Show your Piranhas pride. Wear your Piranhas swim cap and colours, t-Shirts and towels to represent your club.

Parent Expectations:

Swimmers look forward to competing at swim meets as they finally get to apply the skills they have been working on every day, have fun, meet new friends and race. Swim meets can’t happen without parent help; from fun meets to provincial championships and from the timer to the referee, every volunteer position needs to be filled.

The following is a summary and description as to who you may see at meets and what each position is responsible for.

We will be asking and encouraging all parents to try various positions out by shadowing an experienced volunteer parent.

The Officials Roles

Timers:
- Best seat in the house! Timers are responsible for getting the official time for the swimmer. The job entails pushing a plunger to stop the backup system when the swimmer touches the wall. There are no qualifications to be a timer but a short seminar if you are new to it will be helpful.

Hospitality:
- The hospitality coordinator organizes the menu and the purchase of the food to be served to our volunteers and coaches. Hospitality workers assist with preparing the food on trays and serving food and refreshments on deck. No training necessary.

Chief Timer:
- The chief timer is a designated timer who is not assigned a lane, but would have a stopwatch running each race and would be available to back up a lane in case one of the lane timers did not have a watch running that race. Training and experience is required.

Marshalling:
- Safety Marshals are present on deck during warm-ups. The marshal keeps an eye on swimmers to make sure the safety warm-up procedures are followed. For younger swimmers, Divs 1-3, the Marshals will actively group the swimmers into their heats and line them up before their races. Experience is an asset.

Stroke & Turn:
- Stroke and Turn officials are responsible for making sure the swimmers do not make any stroke infractions. Training and shadowing is required.

ARES/Dolphin/Colorado:
- These computer savvy individuals work in the booth on the pool deck and run the timing equipment to ensure accurate results. Training and experience is required.

Crash Desk (Recorder Scorer):
- This position requires training and experience. Works with Meet Manager software. You are someone who can make quick and accurate decisions evaluating results. The Recorder Scorer works closely with the timing systems group. Training is required

Clerk of Course:
- The clerk of course is the person working on the computer on deck. The Clerk accepts scratches and deck entries and notifies the referee of any changes. The Clerk also enters the names of swimmers in relays. Training and experience is required.

Starter:
- The starter works along side the referee to signal the beginning of each race. Training and experience is required.

Referee:
- The referee is the official who is in charge of the session. The referee will signal the starter that the race is ready to begin and is the person that stroke and turn officials report to in case of any disqualifications. Training and experience is required.

Meet Manager:
- The Meet Manager is the lead on deck. The organization and format of the meet is decided by the Meet Manager. Training and experience is required.

Tips for New Families

The heat sheet is where you will find out what events, heats and lanes your swimmer will be in. Many people like to sharpie this information on their swimmer's arms.

Swimmers and families wait outside in the team tent area for their events. Due to limited pool deck seating families head in to the pool once their child is marshalled, watch the event, then leave the pool deck to make room for other families.

Be sure to keep track of the meet and get your child to marshalling when their event is called.

Once your child is marshalled you can leave - they are in good hands, promise! It's good practice for them to not expect you to be there all the time. Once you get to Regionals and Provincials your child can be DQ'd if their parent is in the marshalling area.

Please do not walk behind the blocks unless you are heading to your timing shift! Stay in the spectator only areas of the pool deck.

Do not take your child away from the facility if they still have events. Because meets are run by event, not by time, it is impossible to know what time a specific event will occur.

The coaches create the relay teams based on meet registration. The teams will be posted in the team tent area on the morning of the meet. Please do NOT LEAVE if your child is in a relay! We often mix divisions so everyone gets a chance to participate in a relay - this means there is a chance your Div 1 swimmer is on a Div 7 relay team - it's a lot of fun for both the young and older swimmers to race together. If you leave the meet and miss your relay the rest of the relay team will not be able to swim and you will not be placed on any relays for the rest of the season.